Mindfulness, Happiness, and More Trends From the 2017 Book Expo

When I was growing up in the Bronx, NY, I loved going to the library. My mom and I would walk across Mosholu Parkway from our home. Mom would go food shopping – to go to the butcher, the bakery and the supermarket. I went to the library, where I headed straight for the new book section, opening the crisp covers, reading the flaps, flipping the printed pages. I’d stack the books – six was the limit – check them out one at a time – and carry the pile in my arms to meet up with mom.

To this day, new books still excite me. That’s why I so enjoyed attending the 2017 Book Expo at the New York Javits Center earlier this month. The Expo is an annual event where publishers showcase new books. From Simon & Schuster to Hachette, Workman, Penguin and more, I walked every aisle to see each publisher’s offerings.

What’s Hot In The World of Books?

Now that I’ve finally finished combing through my notes and all the catalogs I collected, it’s time to share the themes and trends that caught my attention. Are you ready for what’s hot in the world of books? Note that some of these books may not be available until later in the year.

Here’s the scoop:

Mindfulness and Yoga With A Dosage of Happiness

If you’re not being mindful or you’re not happy, not to worry because there are hundreds of books (or maybe more) to bring you into the present and make you joyful. As a yogi, I was pleased to see that these topics are trending, yet not sure how I would find time to practice if I spent all my time reading. Here are some titles to choose from:

♥Mindfulness On the Go – “a set of 52 cards and a 64-page illustrated book, all in a flip-top box with an easel to display your mindfulness cards.”

♥The Yoga Healerby Christine Burke – with “remedies for the body, mind, and spirit, from easing back pain and headaches to managing anxiety and finding joy and peace within.”♥Beyond Mindfulness by Stephen Bodian – says it’s “the direct approach to lasting peace, happiness, and love.♥Relax into Yoga for Seniorsby Kimberly Carson, MPH, E-RYT and Carol Krucoff, E-RYT – including a six-week program for strength, balance, flexibility and pain relief.♥Yoga Bodies by Lauren Lipson – about “real people, real stories & the power of transformation”

♥The Mindful Way to a Good Night’s Sleep by Tzivia Gover, Director of the Institute for Dream Studies – promises to help you “discover how to use dreamwork, meditation, and journaling to sleep deeply and wake well.” Sounds like a good read for my menopausal and post-menopausal friends, since no one ever sleeps!

Do You Want To Know How To Live Longer or Age Well?

♥The Spectrum of Hopeby Gayatri Devi, M.D., Director of the New York Memory and Healthy Aging Services – “an optimistic and new approach to Alzheimers Disease and other dementia.”♥Sixtyby Ian Brown will be out in paperback in August. It’s a diary of Ian’s sixty-first year. (Definitely going to be reading this book in 2017 during my countdown to 60.)♥The Longevity Code by Kris Verburg, M.D. – about “the new science of aging.”♥If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face? by Alan Alda – maybe the secret to a long life is good communications.♥Silver Hair by Lorraine Massey with Michele Bender – a handbook on how to “say goodbye to the dye and let your natural light shine.”

♥TheNaughty Nineties by David Friend- boomers will enjoy this read which reflects on all the ways the world changed in the 90s with “the rise of the web, reality television, and the wholesale tabloidization of pop culture.”